He was 17 when he committed an armed robbery in Biloxi. He didn’t straighten up, police say.

A Biloxi man was 17 when he robbed someone at gunpoint in November 2008 on Esters Boulevard and Holley Street.

He was charged as an adult and received a somewhat lenient sentence, possibly because of his age. A judge in 2012 sentenced him to 12 years in prison and suspended seven years, leaving three years to serve and three years on probation.

A judge revoked his probation in 2017 after he was accused in another armed robbery, one in which he and two other men allegedly assaulted the victim and robbed him at gunpoint in the 500 block of Division Street on May 18, 2017.

Jermaine Deangelo Reed, now 27, is serving a prison sentence from the 2008 holdup that could keep him behind bars until 2024 while he awaits prosecution on his second armed robbery charge.

But meanwhile, he’s been accused of bribing one or more witnesses who could testify against him in the armed robbery case. The bribery charge has been turned over to a grand jury for possible indictment.

Sheriff Troy Peterson said he can’t discuss the alleged bribery, which may have taken place behind bars.

Reed and two other men made headlines after the holdup in 2017, when federal marshals went looking for them.

Police at the time said Devonte Johnques Walker, now 26, held a gun on the Division Street victim while Reed and Ray Charles Martin Jr., now 39, assaulted and robbed him of an undisclosed amount of money.

The victim required hospital treatment, police said.

A Harrison County circuit court judge revoked Reed’s probation on Dec. 7, 2017. His tentative release date is July 10, 2024 — if he’s not convicted on other charges.

A grand jury has indicted Reed, Walker and Martin in the pending armed robbery case.

Martin, a felon, faces an additional charge; he also was indicted on a firearm violation. At the time of the holdup, Martin was on parole for two crack cocaine convictions from an arrest in 2010, the county jail docket shows.

Biloxi Police arrested Martin on July 31. He was wanted on warrants for failing to appear in court on his charges. He tried to avoid police who tried to stop him, and also was arrested on a charge of felony eluding.

Reed is tentatively set for a court hearing Aug. 20 on the armed robbery charge. The jail docket does not list court dates for Walker and Martin.

Robin Fitzgerald, 228-896-2307, @robincrimenews

This story was originally published August 1, 2018 at 12:00 AM.